Code of conduct puts major projects at a standstill in Nashik, including Smart City

After the municipal council elections, the code of conduct will be imposed for municipal corporation election which means that these projects will not take shape till few months after the election.TNN | October 20, 2016, 14:30 IST

NASHIK: The code of conduct that has been imposed for the municipal council elections in various places of the district on Monday has put many of the major projects of the city at a standstill including Smart City.

After the municipal council elections, the code of conduct will be imposed for municipal corporation election which means that these projects will not take shape till few months after the election.

The code of conduct was enforced from Monday in Bhagur, Sinnar, Yeola, Nandgaon, Satana and Manmad for the municipal council elections scheduled on November 27. Soon after that the code of conduct for municipal corporation election will be enforced. According to the new rule, code of conduct in four or more places in the district will also be applicable for the municipal corporation as well.

"Earlier this was not the rule with the code of conduct. They have introduced it recently and we will have to wait for the elections to get over," said an NMC official.

Important projects like managing and maintaining compost plant on DFBOT basis, new system of garbage collection, auto DCR, property survey, tree census, tree plantation, garden maintenance and Smart City will take a backseat due to the municipal council and municipal corporation election scheduled on November 27 and February 2017 respectively.

"The most affected project will be tree plantation and I wanted it to happen before the code of conduct because by the time it will be lifted it will be summer time and we will not be able to plant trees then. We will have to wait for the rainy season," said municipal commissioner Abhishek Krishna during a media briefing on Tuesday.

Manish Deore, a consultant said that most of the projects were dilly dallied by the NMC since years.

"Now with the excuse of the code of conduct all the files will gather dust. Even the developmental works of various prabhags have not been started," said Deore.

Sukhada Bonde, a teacher said, "The gardens are in a shambles and we doubt if things will be any better this coming summer. NMC also does not fear violating the court's orders like tree plantation, tree census and compost plant."

Some of the major projects that will be affected:

Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer (DFBOT) of compost plant - Mailhem Ikos Environment Private Limited that will be managing Nashik Municipal Corporation's (NMC) compost plant on DFBOT basis for 30 years will have to wait for the civic election in February 2017 to get the work order. It will be able to start the work only after the civic election, mayoral election, standing committee election which means only in March-April. In November 2015, NGT withheld all the building permissions due to the improper management of MSW and the NMC. NMC has to manage the compost plant successfully in six months as per the MSW Rules after which the stay on building constructions will be lifted. The delay in starting with DFBOT of compost plant would further delay building constructions.

Garbage collection – Tenders have been approved for new system of garbage collection but the contractors have asked for 2-3 months for complying with all the conditions of the new system like buying new garbage vans, installing global positioning system, minimum wages for the sanitary labourers, biometric attendance, waste segregation etc. All these will be possible only after the civic elections.

Auto DCR (development control regulations) – The town planning department will have to manually scrutinize building plans until early next year as automating development control regulations for building plan approvals will also be delayed due to the code of conduct. It is a single window which is expected to have plans that do not deviate from the DCR. The approved plan will then be uploaded on the NMC's website and people will know the exact plan that has been approved.

Property survey - Property survey that is expected to bring everyone in the tax net and has been one of NMC's pet projects will have to take backseat as the agency Geo Emphasis an L1 company that quoted the minimum rate early this month is yet to get the work order. Leakages in the property tax will be checked and this will add to the NMC's treasury. This project was first discussed in 2012.

Tree census – The long-pending tree census will be delayed further as the work order to the agency Teragon Teragon, appointed early this month is yet to be given. Only one tree census was done by NMC eight years back. Environment activists have been demanding it from years and the Bombay High Court also ordered for it. Tree census will give the exact number of trees, species, height, age etc.

Tree plantation - NMC's standing committee approved tenders worth Rs 3.65 crore for planting 15,160 trees of 10 feet height across the city in early October. Out of the 21,000 trees to be planted, 5,800 are of 15 feet in height and are being planted. The high court has ordered NMC to plant trees and transplant the ones cut for road widening. Also, there has been negligible tree plantation by NMC in the past few years. Increasing the green cover would probably be delayed till next monsoon because after the elections it would be summer.

Gardens maintenance - Gardens maintenance put NMC under scanner for years, particularly since one year it has been grappling with the issue. Out of the 481 gardens 286 were to be maintained through self-help groups but failed to get any response for its tenders. Nine different tenders have been floated recently. Ironically, the city is known as the city of gardens and jogging tracks but maintenance of gardens has been a major issue. Like last summer, this summer too children may not be able to play in the gardens.

Smart City – Among 27 smart cities selected Nashik stands 11th. After the initial hiccups Nashik was included in the second list of smart cities. The first meeting of the board of directors for Smart city's s special purpose vehicle (SPV) took place at NMC under the chairmanship of principal secretary, planning department Sitaram Kunte on September 21. But all the smart projects will have to wait till summer.

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